Rollstock Film: Buyer’s Guide
“being aware of the available rollstock film options will make the road to finding suitable supplies easier”
No one wants to end up with roll stock film that does not meet your specific requirements causing you to waste money and time. Today, we will explore how to choose the right roll stock film by providing an overview of film types, materials used in manufacturing for optimal shelf life, and how to apply the available film size specification to your rollstock machine and packaging priorities.
The Importance of Knowing Your Film Options
Purchasing roll stock film can be stressful as this line of food packaging is generally more expensive due to the function of the fully automatic machinery to produce packages at a large quantity. Contrary to the process of choosing the right bags for chamber vacuum seal machines, you are purchasing entire rolls that are much more expensive. Therefore, being aware of the available rollstock film options will make the road to finding suitable supplies easier and allow you to apply them to the specifications of your individual packaging experiences. Furthermore, become educated on the product materials so you can judge for yourself what best fits the quality you demand!
Roll Stock Film Types
Forming Films (VacForm)
Forming film is located at the infeed end of your rollstock machine. According to its name, forming film goes through the process of re-shaping into pockets for the food to be placed using heat and air compression. Forming films are occasionally called flexible packaging films, but are not synonymous.
Non-Forming Films (VacSeal)
Easy-To-Peel Film (VacPeel)
Easy-to-peel films are an alternative to non-forming films. They are manufactured to be easily peeled from the bottom forming-film layer. A peeling layer divider set is required to accomplish this. So when the seal plate lowers, it seals across the corner. Now the packaging is suited to open easily!
Custom Printed Rollstock Films
The Manufacturing of JVR’s Roll Stock Film Line
We are proud to claim every confidence in providing top-quality rollstock film packaging materials with the appropriate variety of options. Why? We have been specializing in vacuum packaging since 1972. With over 52 years of ever-growing knowledge and experience, our packaging products have been constructed and refined, producing form fill seal supplies that are customized based on the request of our customers.
Characteristics for Optimal Shelf Life
Our rollstock films are manufactured with the perfect 9-layer, co-extruded composition to meet all your food packaging priorities. Co-extrusion is a process where multiple layers are pressed together into one to create a laminar structure to produce all of the features necessary for superior puncture resistance and barrier properties to maximize shelf life.
Key characteristics to optimize your packaging experience are as follows:
Superior oxygen and moisture barriers
Excellent sealing properties
Fewer blowouts with our proprietary formula
Film remains flexible even during deep-freeze temperatures due to the “Soft Feel” property
An Overview of the Material Used to Manufacture Film
EVOH (ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer) is found in all our high barrier films and will work with most any packaging application. If shelf life is not of great concern or if all your products are being sold frozen then you may want to consider a medium barrier film. These films are considerably less expensive because they do not contain the costly EVOH layer.
Forming Films: Typically constructed of Polypropylene, EVOH (high barrier), and polyethylene
Non-Forming Films: Typically constructed of Nylon, EVOH (high barrier), and polyethylene
Custom Printed Film: Typically constructed of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and polyethylene
Is Rollstock Film Sous Vide Safe?
All thermoforming films provided by JVR Industries comply with FDA guidelines, and they contain no BPA or PFAS chemicals. They are constructed of materials that are deemed safe for sous vide cooking applications, similar to our vacuum pouches (VacPouch). No need to worry about harmful plastics entering the food!
Rollstock Film Sizes
At the initial purchase of your rollstock machine, your manufacturer should provide a film spec that describes the film sizes and tolerances appropriate for your machine. The roll web and diameter are the essential dimensions for selecting the film size. The film spec displays the web specified to match the web width of your machine with a range of +/- 1 or 2 mm.
Chances are, you have already determined the correct film size for your rollstock packaging machine. Whatever the film specifications are for your machine, JVR Industries provides standard and custom web widths to fit your requirements. However, as a general rule, we highly recommend you request a test roll to ensure compatibility if you plan to transition to any new film supplier.
How To Choose Roll Stock Film Thickness
Forming Films
We carry 4-9 mil forming film as JVR Industries focuses more on flexible packaging applications. However, JVR can also supply customers with semi-rigid and rigid film structures. When choosing the thickness that fits your needs consider the following factors:
1) Forming film thins as it forms into pockets. The deeper the forming inserts, the higher the thickness of the film to ensure package integrity.
2) If you package bone-in meat or frozen food, then a thicker film will provide higher puncture resistance. Alternatively, consider our VacGuard (boneguard materials) in conjunction with thinner gauge films to reach maximum puncture resistance cost-effectively.
3) If the quality of your food packaging appearance is a priority, a thicker film helps provide that premium look and feel!
Non-Forming And Easy-To-Peel Films
Non-forming film is available at JVR Industries and we stock a variety of widths in 3 mil gauge. Since this film type does not go through a forming process, a thickness of 3 mil will suffice for most applications. 4 or 5 mil may be appropriate for higher puncture resistance or to provide a high-quality appearance.
Questions?
Feel free to email us anytime or call us during our business hours with any questions that may arise! We look forward to helping you in any way we can that will make the vacuum packaging journey easier!
